[Geoprisma-dev] gettext under Windows

[Etienne Dube]

Hi,

We have noticed a problem with the gettext library under PHP 5.3.5 and 
Windows Server 2008 (x64). Details are in the ticket: 
http://trac.osgeo.org/geoprisma/ticket/193

A possible solution would be to replace the default gettext that comes 
with PHP (which relies on the GNU gettext library) with an alternate, 
pure PHP implementation, namely php-gettext 
(https://launchpad.net/php-gettext/). I've tested it successfully by 
implementing a new subclass of Locale.

Now the question is whether we make this new class (namely 
PhpGetTextLocale) as the default in Setting.php (by changing the 
LOCALE_CLASS constant), or leave GetTextLocale with the GNU gettext 
implementation as the default. php-gettext is licensed under the GPLv2, 
whereas GeoPrisma has a "Modified BSD License" (which is GPL-compatible 
according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BSD_licenses) so legally it 
should be fine. However, Yves pointed out to me that including a GPLv2 
lib would prevent the use of GeoPrisma in some contexts that the BSD 
license allows for, namely in proprietary, non-free software.

So the two options would be:

1 - Make the new PhpGetTextLocale the default in Setting.php and 
distribute php-gettext with GeoPrisma (in the lib/ directory). The old 
GetTextLocale would still be there if someone wants to use the GNU 
gettext implementation.

2 - Include the PhpGetTextLocale class but leave the existing 
GetTextLocale class as the default and don't distribute php-gettext with 
GeoPrisma. Users who want to use php-gettext would have to download the 
library themselves and override the default setting using the 
SettingImpl class.

I'm neutral on that one, since both options are acceptable for our 
needs. Any opinions on that?

Thanks,

Etienne

-- 
Etienne Dubé
Developer

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